Entry from my Journal: 9/2/09
"Lord, I want to genuinely enjoy my little boy! And, I want for him to enjoy every day that we spend together...because they are a gift, and they just go by way too fast to spend them any other way!
Discipline is necessary. And biblical. But, I am determined that it not become my life. Because, if it does, not only am I living a very sad day-t0-day existence, but so is my little man!
So, I will balance my discipline, of course with love, but also with silliness and fun, spontaneity and laughter. Rather than correcting for 100 different things in a day, I will remind my sweet little boy, 100 times if necessary, of our 3 simple rules. Then, I will discipline him fairly, consistently, and quickly when they are not followed. So much easier...for he and I both!
Help me train him up in the way he should go, Father. He is yours, and I know that you have amazing plans for him."
Report: Almost 6 months later, this is still working so well for us! Landon's rule sheet hangs on our fridge, and we often hear him singing the little song that I wrote to help him remember what is expected of him. Conclusion: At three-years-old, three broad can-apply-to-almost-anything-he-tries-to-pull rules seem to work well!
5 comments:
Am I allowed to laugh at the fact that he seems to have scribbled on the 'we never lose our temper' but then my kids (probably you excluded) would have likely set the entire piece of paper on fire or flushed it.
Good for you - keeping it simple - for you to enforce and for him to remember. These seriously could carry him into adulthood - heck these would be good for me to remember!
Those are three good rules for ALL of us to have up on our refrigerators -- for children and adults alike! :)
Can you tell me where you came up with these? Were they from a book or did you make them yourself? If they're from a book, I'd be interested to read it.
I'm with Mom--I giggled when I saw the scribbled "We never lose our temper" one! Call me cynical, but I think it might've been on purpose?? Or maybe that's just MY kids! :)
Love you! Tell Rhino we hope tomorrow goes smashingly well. Sorry, wrong choice of words! hee-hee!
Mom and Sar, I agree it is funny that he happened to scribble on the temper one!! Actually though, Donald is just his favorite of the three, and at three, that's about as well as Landon can color. It makes me laugh too though! That's the one that I would scribble on if I were coloring it...
Anonymous, I came up with these on my own. I am a former Elementary teacher, and learned at some point in my training that kids do better with only a few broad rules. I just tried to think of the things that my son was getting disciplined for (pouting, hitting, not sharing, etc.), and then created rules that I thought could curb many of the behaviors, while actually training and shaping his heart along the way. Glad that you like them! :)
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